Tag Archive | "Cleveland Indians"

Kerry Wood was part of the Chicago Cubs organization for 13 years and has become a part of the City of Chicago like no other Cubs player of recent date. He calls Lincoln Park his home, and he will continue to call Chicago his home even after his signing with the Cleveland Indians this off-season. He made one final good-bye gesture to the city and Cubs fans with ads in the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times over the weekend:

“It has been an honor to have been a Chicago Cub for the last 13 years and to have played in the greatest ballpark, Wrigley Field. My deepest thanks to my teammates and the Cubs organization for taking a chance on a kid from Texas and welcoming me into the Cubs family.”

The ads also included pictures from his days as a Chicago Cub – when he signed with the Cubs in July 1995, when he struck out 20 batters in an MLB game in May 1998 and when he was the closer for the Cubs during the 2008 MLB season.

Wood has recently indicated that he would have returned to the Cubs in 2009 under a 1-year contract, but Cubs GM Jim Hendry disputes that contention. Hendry told the media and fans at this past weekend’s Cubs Convention that Wood’s agents were seeking a 3-year deal for the closer. Hendry felt that because of Wood’s injury issues the last 4 MLB seasons – that put Wood on the DL for more than 50% of the team’s games during that span – it would not be fair to the Cubs organization to sign Wood for that period of team.

In any event, it was nice that Wood had nice things to say about the Cubs organization in his ads – despite this latest controversy – and we’re sure we’ll be seeing lots of Kerry Wood and his family in the Chicago area for years to come. Good luck Kerry!